Ninja Exchange Program
by TheCentauress
Summary: AU!  Naruto is 'Volunteered' to participate in a 'Student Exchange' program.  Easy enough,  right?  Well,  it would be,  if he didn't have a few OTHER things to worry about...


Hello, Kingitsune! Hello, Raihin!

_Or,_

Meet the new Students!

The Kohona Academy was in chaos. Due to some insane idea, the Kages of both their beloved hidden village and Suna had decided, 'in our infinite wisdom', to institute a rare and rather bizarre idea: a student exchange.

One of their own, sadly, were going to be shipped off to that Kami-forsaken sandpit for a two-year period. Who knew just what….

One of the staff finally looked closer at the paperwork. The 'lucky' student was none other than the Bane of Kohona; the disgusting waste of flesh, Uzumaki Naruto.

The party lasted a week afterwards.

* * *

In Naruto's apartment, a lone figure was gathering the last salvageable bits that hid in all the villager-created debris that covered most of the surfaces. The figure was covered in a red cloak that was so dark that at first glance it appeared to be black; the cloak's hood covered the being's head completely and left the facial features cloaked in dark shadows, to the point that there was only a hint of the features themselves. The unknown person also appeared to be taller and a touch thinner than the normal resident. 

Putting the final item into the sack that was at their side, the mystery person stood once again and turned back to the door and left the remainder of the apartment to be dealt with by the next poor soul to walk into it.

* * *

About an hour later, the same cloaked figure was standing outside the main gate of the hidden village, with the Sandaime Hokage resting his hand on their shoulder. Said mystery person was shaking their head slowly from what the older man was saying. 

"… And be sure to pass the exam, Naruto," the old man concluded; finally ending what, to the cloaked figure, was an extremely boring list of instructions. The cloaked ninja-wannabe just bobbed their head, just as another pair of figures 'poofed' into existence in front of them in a spray of sand.

The larger of the newcomers, a male nin wearing a sandy-tan full body uniform that included a cloth mask with a silk-screened scorpion design, gently nudged the shorter figure, draped and concealed in a dusty-grey cloak toward the Kohona pair. In an even and uninflected voice, the sand-nin stated, "Here is the Suna student, Hokage-san."

The Hokage bobbed his head once and nudged his own charge forward. "And here is the Kohona student, Te-Buki-san." He then leant down and whispered, "See you in two years, Naruto."

As the two cloaked figures passed each other, blue slit-pupil eyes locked with a set of teal ones which had pupils shaped like a five-pointed star. Both pairs momentarily locked and a wealth of information passed wordlessly. Each nodded to the other as they passed, knowing what they had to do.

The Sand-nin placed his hand on the cloaked Naruto and stated, once again in his monotone, "Brace yourself. This might make you a bit dizzy." With that, and another sand-shower, the pair were away.

Giving a long sigh, the Ninja leader looked at his new charge. "And what may I call you?"

The figure laughed, the voice oddly inflected. "My given name is Gaara," the cloaked figure responded, as their hands lifted to the hood. Lowering the covering cloth revealed a head of red hair from which sprouted a pair of pointed ears. The being's eyes were in a patch of more-darkly tanned skin that gave the impression of a mask.

As the cloak slipped from the being's shoulders, it was revealed that the figure was: 1) female, 2) standing on digigrade legs and 3) easily counterbalanced by the heavy, ringed tail that was attached to her backside. She gave the old man an easy grin and continued. "I would rather be called 'Kohona no Raihin,' though; or even just Raihin, if it's acceptable.

The elderly ninja stood there blinking, then just nodded.

* * *

As the sand swirled around the pair, Naruto was unaware of the outer conditions. Instead, he was involved with a concern closer to himself. 

Standing in front of a mental representation well-known cage, still covered by the red-almost-black cloak, he was shouting at his 'tennant'. "WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO NOW!!!" he stated in an oddly high-pitched shriek.

Instead of the growling rumble that might be expected, the voice that replied was melodious and almost gentle; well, it would be, if the demonic reverb were left out, that is. "**You do what you were sent to do, Kit. Just look at it this way, Sunagakure knows nothing about you.**" An enormous red eye closed in a sly wink. "**They won't know what hit them.**"

Naruto grinned, his gleaming white and pointed teeth easily visible in the shadows of the hood momentarily. Then the grin faded. "How long will 'this' last?" he then asked in a near whisper.

The demon fox gave out a sigh, the breeze of which fluttered the cloak. "**About two years, Kit, give or take,**" the demon replied in a melancholy voice. "**I'm sorry, again.**"

Naruto just waved a hand, brushing off the apology. "Just my normal luck, fuzzy," he said quietly. "I'll just chalk it up to using an untested jitsu with your chakra."

A red furred fox face emerged from the shadows of the cage, the expression on it showing sorrow. "**But if I hadn't tried to contact you just then…,**" the Kyuubi continued, but was cut off by the cloaked person.

"… It would've happened some other time," Naruto concluded. "Let it be, 'neechan."

The fox's face broke into a grin. Not one of malice, but rather one of happiness. "**Alright, ototou,**" she replied. "**Now go out there and wow 'em, Foxy.**"

With a blink, Naruto and the escort were standing in front of a tall stone gate set in a sandstone wall. Walking toward them was a chuunin sand-nin with a clipboard. "Name?" he asked in a bored voice.

Naruto raised his hands to the hood. "Naruto Uzumaki, Kohona Exchange to the Academy," he replied allowing the hood to fall back and pull the rest of the cloak down…

… exposing the fact that 'he' was actually a female with golden-furred fox-like tail and ears, standing on animal-shaped legs. "You can call me 'Suna no Kingitsune' or just 'Kingitsune' if you like," she finished.

Anything that was said was overlaid with a squeal that rapidly approached their position.

"_**KAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_"

* * *

Authoress' Notes: 

Yeah, I was bitten by the 'Naruto' bug. But not in the usual way.

I was using a IM program by the name of 'IMVU' – pronounced 'IM view' – where your avatar is an actual 3-D figure when I came across a couple things: A bundle that makes a female Avatar into a 'Orioke no Naruto' clone and a fennec fox-girl bundle. I played around with them and then thought about a few ideas.

What if Naruto got somehow locked into a female form?

What if Gaara's demon wasn't as crazy as everyone thinks?

What if there was­ such a thing as a Ninja Student Exchange program?

Those blended together as I sat there and after a good night's sleep where this Prologue appeared, whole cloth, I sat down and attempted to write it.

R&R is appreciated.


End file.
